Sunday, 29 June 2008

The Official Sony Japan Zebrahead Site has been updated with a new greeting message by the guys and best of all, a short clip of Mental Health! Check out both these clips right here (the brief clip will play automatically after the greeting).

Zebrahead are featured on pages 20-21 of the current issue (# 11) of Rock Industry Magazine! The magazine is hosted online and best of all is entirely free to read! Check out the current issue right here (Adobe PDF Reader, or similar is required).

Thursday, 26 June 2008

Zebrahead have added a new blog entry to their MySpace blog containing some updates and bits of new info! The blog entry in question can be viewed in full here.

First key thing to note is that a short preview of the track "HMP" (opening track to Phoenix) has been to their MySpace Profile Player! Have a listen here! The blog entry mentions that "a new one [preview clip] will be posted every couple days for the next month or so tell the album comes out!" so keep checking the profile.

Finally the entry closes with a tidbit of info about an official site relaunch and upcoming tour dates:

"Some tour announcements coming very soon and a re-launch of the .com site on its way ASAP!"

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

Sony Japan has teamed up with Japanese bag make Porter for a special Zebrahead Campaign that will take place between July 8th and September 1st 2008!

Between these dates anyone who buys 2 of the following products from Sony Japan's store will receive a limited edition Zebrahead Porter bag:

PhoenixPhoenix Limited Edition (w/ Be@rbrick)Waste Of Mind (Low Price Reissue)Playmate Of The Year (Low Price Reissue)MFZB (Low Price Reissue)Broadcast To The WorldBroadcast To The World: The F*#king DVDWaste Of MFZB

As with Be@rbricks, Porter produce their items in limited quantities which are never re-released therefore it is already expected that these bags will become a collector's item very quickly. Unfortunately this campaign is only available to Japanese residents, as Sony's store does not accept international orders! So anyone desperately wanting a bag had better hope for another way of obtaining one! Any additional follow up news on the bag will be posted here on PFH, so stay tuned!

As previously mentioned the bear is limited to a total of 3000 units and is exclusively available with Zebrahead's limited edition of their new album "Phoenix" (limited edition is strictly limited to 3000 copies). The bears, along with the limited edition albums, were sold at a first come first served basis via numerous Japanese online stores where consumers could pre-order the album for 4200 Yen (roughly double the price of a standard CD). Other known details are that the bear stands 70mm tall and has an official Be@rbrick Number of "000ZH". Check out more pictures below!

Here's hoping for a "hands on" article with the bear sometime in the future! Big thanks to Dale at MFZB.com for finding these pictures!

Thanks to the brand new Official MySpace layout, the cover art and release date for Zebrahead's "Not The New Album EP" has finally been revealed! The EP will be released digitally on iTunes USA by ICON Mes the same day "Phoenix" is launched physically in Japan! For all the known details on this little gem take a look below:

If you are a fan from outside of the USA, you may be wondering how you can get your hands on the EP... unfortunately no other way has been revealed yet, however a digital release on other iTunes stores may be a possibility, or we may see these tracks on a possible fanclub CD in the future. More EP news as we get it!

Monday, 23 June 2008

Zebrahead's Official MySpace profile has been given a new lease of life, by having a new Phoenix themed layout created for it! Check out the new page right here!

Fans can have their very own Zebrahead themed contact box and furthermore a new banner has been created to promote the new album. Head to the profile to grab the codes for both now and start spreading the word!

Sunday, 22 June 2008

Download Festival's Official Website now has pictures up of most of the bands that performed over the course of this 3 day event. Luckily for us the site now includes pictures of Zebrahead (or rather "Zebra Head") as well! You can feast your eyes on several shots of the guys that were taken by photographer Manesh Lad right here.

Up for download is a roughly 45 minute video of Zebrahead's performance at Camden Underworld in London on the 10th June 2008. The video is essentially the entire show, only missing the intro song ("Rescue Me") and the final song ("Anthem"). Well worth checking out, whether you were lucky enough to catch this show or not!

Saturday, 21 June 2008

The new issue of Kerrang! Magazine features a short review of Zebrahead's recent performance at Download Festival in which the guys have been awarded 'KKK' (3/5). You can read the full review below:

"The supposedly unenviable opening slot on the Tuborg is lapped up by Zebrahead (KKK) who make the best of a still-filling fetival by bouncing out 30 minutes of pop-punk giddiness, rap dude Ali Tabatabaee sprinting stage left to right and working a willing crowd well."

Big thanks to Scott from MFZB.com for typing this out for us! May have a scan featuring a picture of Ali for you later on!

You may remember shortly before the release of BTTW, the offices at Sony Japan were updated to feature parts of the BTTW artwork! Well once again to build some hype for the new album, the offices in Sony Japan now feature a 50/50 split between Zebrahead's new album "Phoenix" and The Offspring's new album "Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace".

Check out the awesome pictures below! Click images for a larger size! (Also catch a glipse of the Zebrahead Be@rbrick bear shown directly under the Phoenix album cover!)

The 3rd and final video update from Zebrahead is now up online and ready to be viewed! You can check it out in all its glory below! This video features some pretty sweet teasers at clips of the new songs you'll soon be listening to!

Friday, 20 June 2008

The special limited edition Zebrahead Be@rbrick bear which PFH reported about here is set to be unveiled tomorrow in Japan. The unveiling will happen at the Medicom Toy Exhibition '08, which is taking place from 21st until the 30th June at the Parco Art Factory in Shibuya. This will be the first time that the Zebrahead Be@rbrick, which is strictly limited to 3000 bears (pacakged in a limited edition version of Zebrahead's new album "Phoenix") will have been seen by the public!

You may remember not too long ago that PFH's very own Ryan ("Otekki") was kind enough to upload a video of Zebrahead's entire show at The Cavern, Exeter from June 3rd 2008. PFH is now happy to offer you the entire show in audio format for those of you wanting to have mp3s of this awesome show. All files are tagged with album artwork and tracklisting info!

Big thanks again to Ryan for capturing the original footage! If you haven't checked out his video yet, make sure you do!

Thursday, 19 June 2008

Below are three awesome videos showing the guys doing their thing on the big stage! One video is from Donnington's Download Festival, where as the other two show events from Switzerland's Greenfield Festival! Check them out below, making sure to check out the last one for sure! Circle Pit video is essential viewing!

Wednesday, 18 June 2008

As well as finally getting round to adding album artwork for both "Phoenix" and "Broadcast To The World: The F*#king DVD", Sony Japan Music Shop has also added a brand new promotional photo of the band fitting the blue sky 'Phoenix' theme. You can check it out in its full glory below!

The Japan release of The Offspring's newest cd "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" has a bonus track which Zebrahead already did! O.C. Life! So go to eBay and order the Japan version of this cd!

It was on the Orange County soundtrack back in 2002. Another Offspring song was on that soundtrack but that's besides the point. The Zebrahead song wasn't even really on the cd, it was on some bonus cd that came with the soundtrack. Download is below. What are your thoughts on the cover?

Tuesday, 17 June 2008

Zebrahead's Official Mobile Blog, which you may remember being told about in this post here, is currently featured on the front page of the Royal Artist Club Website! In short, this means any pictures or videos the guys post to their blog during the next week, will be seen by anyone who visits the main RAC page - talk about promotion!

I'd highly recommend keeping an eye on the mobile blog as you never know what might pop up! The black mobile stream widget currently on the right of this blog auto updates whenever a new post is made, so keep checking to make sure you never miss an update!

UK based website Scene Slut managed to catch up with both Matty and Ali during the recently completed headline tour to talk about touring, festivals, the new album and life in Zebrahead in general. You can read the entire transcript by clicking here!

Monday, 16 June 2008

A video showing Zebrahead playing "Karma Flavored Whisky" at Greenfields Festival in Switzerland (14th June) has been posted to YouTube! While not the best quality, it is a pretty sweet video in the way it gives you the scale of the the stage, plus it's always nice to see the guys performing with their Zebrahead banner in the background! Check it out below!

Alternative Vision recently posted a short segment promoting the forthcoming album "Phoenix" and Zebrahead's future touring plans. You can check it out below:

"Hailing from Orange County, CA. zebrahead -- Ali Tabatabaee – vocals, Greg Bergdorf – guitar, Matty Lewis – vocals & guitar, Ben Osmundson – bass and Ed Udhus – drums are once again gearing up to make their presence felt with the group's highly-anticipated new album with tracks produced by Howard Benson (Daughtry, Saosin, POD Adema) And Cameron Webb (Social Distortion, Motorhead, Papa Roach) CD to hit the street and Internet this summer on German independent label Steamhammer/SPV in Europe and the UK.

Excited about their second release for SPV, the band is revitalized, road-ready and eager to get the party started. The quintet comes out kicking, delivering a flurry of pummeling rhythms, clench-fisted chords and meaty hooks that we have come to expect from Zebrahead. "I really can't wait to get out there and play these songs all over the world", says bassist Ben.

Singer/guitarist Matty Lewis on making the new album: "Making a record is kinda like having sex with a woman...sometimes things come easy and naturally, and everything about it goes smooth...but sometimes the phone rings, her mom calls or God forbid, her dad comes home. Sometimes, you finish too early and you don't put enough time into it, and sometimes you do it too long and the song chaffs and hurts a bit. Like a woman, every record is different, but in the end, you're still having sex with a woman and you still make a record."

In addition to the new CD the band is already slated to play Japan’s Summersonic Festival, UK's Download Festival and Switzerland’s Greenfield Festival with a full tour of the States to start in the fall of 2008. "We're going to go to the U.K. and drink their beer. Then, we're going to Japan to drink their beer." says guitarist Greg Bergdorf.

Zebraheads new CD is the successor to the bands first SPV release "Broadcast to the World", the follow-up to Zebrahead's critically acclaimed third release, MFZB. MFZB had the highest testing alternative radio song for months running with “Rescue Me”. MFZB also went gold in Japan! Playmate of the Year, released in 2000 to rave reviews, the album's infectious title track received over 4000 spins on Modern Rock and Rock radio, garnering airplay on some of the world's biggest alternative stations."

Sunday, 15 June 2008

Get it while it's hot! PFH is offering you guys the chance to stream Zebrahead's upcoming single "Mental Health" taken from the highly anticipated album "Phoenix", in it's entirety right here, right now! What are you waiting for? Give your ears a treat and check it out below! Expect the music video to surface soon!

If you experience any problems, drop me a comment and I'll see if I can fix them! Enjoy!

Saturday, 14 June 2008

NME have posted two photos of the band playing live at Donnington yesterday, you can check them out along with their corresponding captions below!

"Zebrahead played a triumphant set featuring songs from their forthcoming album, ‘Phoenix’, which is scheduled for release in August. Pic : Phil Wallis"

"Zebrahead’s singer, Justin Mauriello, salutes the Donnington Park crowd. The band are performing at Download as part of an extensive European tour, which includes further UK appearances at the Leeds Slam Dunk and Greenfield Festivals. Pic: Phil Wallis"

Yeah... you did read that correctly... four years Justin-free and he still gets his name cropping up! Here's hoping to see some more pictures/videos of their performance appear very soon!

Thanks to Uncle Cletus and Lorna from MFZB.com for having a good eye and finding these!

Room Thirteen (R13) recently conducted an interview with Ben prior to the guys leaving to start their headline tour in the UK. The interview is mainly Download Festival orientated and can be read in full here

Friday, 13 June 2008

For most of the UK tour Zebrahead have been soundchecking the first track from their forthcoming album Phoenix ("HMP") but as of yet, have never actually played it live to a crowd. After hearing the song one soundcheck and thinking how awesome it was, I had made it my personal mission to get a decent video recording of it at some point for you guys! Peterborough turned out to be the perfect place to video the song, so armed with a trusty DV videocamera I recorded Zebrahead's entire soundcheck!

The soundcheck has been split into four parts and consists of three whole songs, which just so happen to all be from Phoenix! Check them out below!

The forthcoming issue of Japanese INROCK Magazine (which will also feature Matty's second monthly column) has a double page spread with a glimpse of the behind the scenes action of Zebrahead's new music video for "Mental Health", filming of which took place just days before flying out to the UK.

You can check out all the awesome pictures featured on the spread below (click for larger size). As for the Japanese... well feel free to translate for the rest of us here if you understand any of it!

Zebrahead are by no means cutting edge or fresh on the scene but harking back to the pop punk movement of years past this band are a joy to see live; I got to remember how and why I love music and to my younger years of first times in the mosh pits, learning about rock and punk and realising that music didn’t start and stop with boy bands (thank god!). Special mention have to go to the warm up acts as they all held the stage with confidence and connected with the crowd with a genuine excitement for being there and playing. Go: Audio were first on the bill and I can confidently say are one to watch and sparkled in the stage lights, Sherwood admittedly were slightly slower in engaging the audience but were by no means dull and Army of Freshman’s infectious gleaming smiles made you want to dance, mosh and jump even if you didn’t know the words to any song they played.

Zebrahead came on stage to a roaring reception, many of whom had seen them already on this current tour and a majority of whom would be seeing them on the weekend at the Download festival. They bantered with the audience, made friends with the crowd surfers and even joined in a few times. Kicking off with ‘Rescue Me’ they geared up the night with a mix of classic tracks and forthcoming new songs from their soon to be released album ‘Phoenix’. The band have a clear love for what they do, willingness to play with humour and have a laugh and tonight was ‘like playing for a bunch of friends’ in a basement rather than in the intimate venue. The room made a family of the fans and even when the band got the whole venue to sit/perch on the floor and jump to the beat everyone continued to have fun and smile in the soaring heat and sweat.

The boys are great at what they do and though the pop punk movement has come and sadly gone leaving a path for new breeds of music it has not gone for good as proven from the success of this show and for me brought back happy reminders of why this genre of catchy and upbeat punk is shamelessly fun and heart warming.

Wednesday, 11 June 2008

So you're a big fan of Zebrahead... and you own a Nintendo Wii? What better way to show love for one of your favourite bands than a customised Wii console! (Or should that be MFZWii)? Check it out below!

Another exclusive video for you all! Here are some clips of the show on the 9th June at Southampton. I filmed it at the front with my digital camera, the quality is pretty good and includes clips of the following songs and some banter:

Equipped with their brand spanking new Nokia phones, Zebrahead are now able to post updates from the road as soon as they happen! Fans of the band now have the ability to view videos and photos the band members record and submit with their new phones to their new Official Mobile Blog!

The blog is part of the Royal Artist Club (created with Nokia N-Series) and anyone wanting to know exactly what the RAC is about should check out the short blurb below:

"If you’ve ever wondered what the everyday lives of musicians are actually like, this might just be the best place to have a look. We’re not promising any massive drug-fuelled orgies and TVs being thrown out of hotel room windows, but hey, this ain’t the 80s no more and who watches TV these days anyway?

New bands are getting involved all the time. Have a look around, bookmark your favourite artists, add the RSS feed and keep checking back for updates."

So keep your eye on this new blog for possible cool tidbits of info and various updates (but stay tuned here too of course... right!?)

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

I've had the Banzai Mother Fucker DVD for years, but I've never seen it because I don't have a region free DVD player, but I put it in my computer and it's letting me change my region a few times. So that being said I ripped it and got the music video off of it at a nice DVD quality rip. I also have the Japanese Tour Diary if anyone wants that.

Monday, 9 June 2008

Well, no specific dates yet I'm afraid... but reassuring to US fans that the guys will be playing there, as dates "are to be announced soon". You can check out the full press release ICON Mes recently submitted to several sites below:

9th June 2006(PR) Orange County, CA's zebrahead are once again gearing up to make their presence felt with the group's highly-anticipated new album 'Phoenix' with most tracks produced by Cameron Webb (Social Distortion, Motorhead, Papa Roach) along with a few tracks produced by zebrahead's old friend and producer from their debut release Howard Benson (Daughtry, Saosin, POD Adema) CD to hit the street and Internet August 5 on ICON Music Entertainment.

Excited about their second release for ICON Music Entertainment, the band is revitalized, road-ready and eager to get the party started. The quintet comes out kicking, delivering a flurry of pummeling rhythms, clench-fisted chords and meaty hooks that we have come to expect from zebrahead.

In addition to the new CD the band is already slated to play Japan's Summersonic Festival, Europe's Download Festival and Switerland's Greenfield Festival. US tour dates to be announced soon.

Zebraheads new CD 'Phoenix' is the successor to the bands first ICON Music release 'Broadcast to the World', the follow-up to zebrahead's critically acclaimed third release, 'MFZB'. 'MFZB' had the highest testing alternative song for months running with "Rescue Me". 'MFZB' also went gold in Japan! 'Playmate of the Year', released in 2000 to rave reviews, the album's infectious title track received over 4000 spins on Modern Rock and Rock radio, garnering airplay on some of the nation's biggest alternative stations.

Track listing:1. HMP2. Hell Yeah!3. Just the Tip4. Mental Health5. The Juggernauts6. Death by Disco7. Be Careful What You Wish For8. Morse Code for Suckers9. Ignite10. Mike Dexter is a God, Mike Dexter is a Role Model, Mike Dexter is an A**hole11. Brixton12. Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right but Three Rights Make a Left13. All for None and None for All14. Hit the Ground15. The Junkie and the Halo16. Sorry, but you Friends are Hot

Welcome to Postcards From Hell 2.0! Big ass thank you to Mr. Colin Stein for giving the blog some new life with the nifty updated banner at the top there! He also had to endure loading this page several times to tell me if the new background looked good, so cheers! Hope you guys like!?

Sunday, 8 June 2008

Quickly head on over to Zebrahead's Official Japanese Website and you'll find it's been updated with a swish flash intro page fitting the Phoenix theme and best of all it features a short studio clip of Mental Health! Check it out!

Once again Zebrahead produced a great interview full of funny moments, responding to fans questions (Zebrahead Mashups even got a nice mention) and to finish the whole thing off they even got out the old acoustic guitar to sing Anthem acoustic style for us!

You can download either the entire interview and performance of Anthem Acoustic or just Anthem Acoustic on it's own below!

Saturday, 7 June 2008

Photographer Carlton Beener was present on several days the guys were recording Phoenix, and took a number of photos during the recording process. He also took some new promotional pictures for the band.

Heading over to his newly set up website and clicking on Portfolio allows you to view a number of pictures of the guys!

Friday, 6 June 2008

Here is a short video of clips from the show at Bristol on the 4th June 2008. I didn't film these on my video camera, I used my digital camera instead. The quality is still pretty good, and it's filmed very close.

Here is an exclusive for PFH and MFZB.com, a full hour and 5 minute video of Zebrahead performing at the Cavern in Exeter on 3rd June 2008. It includes 2 new songs "Just The Tip" and "Mental Health" as well as all the banter etc between songs!Please enjoy!

Zebrahead's Official MySpace Profile has not only just unveiled the new cover art for the album (see previous post), but has now also revealed all 18 tracks that will make up your favourite album of the summer.

Full tracklisting is as follows:

1. HMP 2. Hell Yeah! 3. Just The Tip 4. Mental Health 5. The Juggernauts 6. Death By Disco 7. Be Careful What You Wish For 8. Morse Code For Suckers 9. Ignite 10. Mike Dexter Is A God, Mike Dexter Is A Role Model, Mike Dexter Is An Asshole 11. The Junkie And The Halo 12. Brixton 13. Hit The Ground 14. Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right, But Three Rights Make A Left 15. All For None And None For All 16. Sorry, But Your Friends Are Hot

Japan Bonus Songs17. The Art Of Breaking Up18. We're Not A Cover Band, We're A Tribute Band

Excited yet? Also a added note that appears with the tracklisting update states:

Chances are this is refering to the "Not The New Album EP" tracklisting which PFH has already revealed, in which case we may be getting a release date for this EP very soon. It was previously believed that the "Not The New Album EP" would be released for USA only via ICON Mes. If this is still the case then the new announcement may indeed be referring to as of yet unknown news regarding a new UK/USA bonus track! Furthermore it is important to note that the word "track" is singular and therefore may suggest this is an extra track that is not on the mini EP, or the Japanese version of the album!

Thursday, 5 June 2008

Awesome news! This Sunday, 8th June Zebrahead will be appearing live on Swindon's 107.7 Brunel FM at some point between 12pm and 4pm (GMT) as part of "The Frequency Show".

As well as the standard interview Zebrahead will also be performing a live song or two acoustic style! Luckily anyone who's not local to the area can listen to the station live by visiting Brunel FM's Website and clicking the "listen/watch" button.

Expect an mp3 rip of the performance and interview to appear right here on PFH! Stay tuned for hopefully a more approximate time slot for the band's appearance!

If you have yet to see it as secret bonus footage on the Broadcast To The World: The F*#king DVD already, you can now view a clip of Zebrahead live in Europe that was recorded last year by Ben of SitcomSoldiers.

Simply head on over to the SitcomSoldiers Website, click on 'film', followed by 'live' and then finally hit the 'Zebrahead' icon to view the footage!

Wednesday, 4 June 2008

Here is a live video of a new song performed live last night at the Cavern in Exeter. As I said I recorded the whole show and will soon upload the entire video for you to download in higher quality. But for now enjoy the new song!

EDIT - To avoid confusion "Just The Tip" is the official album track title for the song that was previously known as "Gut Rot" (the codename the guys used during the recording process) - Darren

It's official! Your countdown until Phoenix has been cut down by a whole day if you live in Europe. Instead of launching on August 5th 2008 as previously stated, Zebrahead's highly anticipated CD will be in European hands a whole day early on August 4th 2008! The American release is still slated for August 5th, which may annoy some American fans but you guys get a neat added bonus in the form that each US CD will come bundled with a "Broadcast To The World: The F*#king DVD" disc! Rock on!

Tuesday, 3 June 2008

Anyone attending the Brighton gig on Thursday 5th June will have to instead travel down the road a bit and head to Audio to see the guys play! It turns out the original venue, The Barfly has had to close effective immediately due to refurbishment issues! Spread the word!

It would appear that Sony Japan's Official Online Shop recently (and rather discreetly) added a limited edition version of Zebrahead's new album "Phoenix" to its webstore, which has since managed to sell out, suggesting it was VERY limited in numbers.

So what exactly is this? Retailing at almost double the price of a standard CD in Japan (4,200 Yen) this special edition contains the new album as well as a one of a kind Zebrahead Be@rbrick toy. For anyone not familiar with Be@rbrick, this Wikipedia definition should make things clear:

"Be@rbrick is a collectible toy designed and produced by MediCom Toy Incorporated. The name is derived from the fact that the figure is a cartoon-style representation of a bear, and that it is a variation of MediCom's Kubrick design. The at sign in the place of the letter a is a visual device that is a part of the Be@rbrick brand, and as such, a trademark of MediCom Toy."

In the past special Be@rbricks have been produced for other bands, the Queen Be@rbrick to the right is a perfect example. There's currently no word on what the Zebrahead bear will look like, chances are it will either be plain with a Zebrahead logo present, may be made to look like a Zebra bear, or perhaps have a Phoenix theme. If pictures come to light soon expect to see them on PFH!

Once again, this set seems to have been very limited in numbers (we are probably talking around 1000 or so) and these toys are highly collectable in Japan, so you might get lucky and see one crop up on eBay in the future... but don't hold your breath!

Expect more details on exactly what this set looks like in the future!

UPDATE: New details (that was quick) reveal this limited edition set contains 2CDs. Again details are unknown but it would be my best guess that the 2nd CD is actually the "Broadcast To The World: The F*#king DVD" which goes on sale in Japan on the same day! Making this quite a nice little boxset for a Zebrahead fan!

A very cool guy who goes by the name of Graham Butler, has uploaded three awesome videos from Zebrahead's show at Whelans in Dublin last Saturday. I'd highly recommend checking out the performances as the picture and video quality is superb! He even managed to get a nice recording of "Mental Health" which gives us a great idea how the studio version will sound. Check out the videos below!

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If you're a big Zebrahead fan and think you'd like to be an active contributor to this blog, then drop me an e-mail at datadynedaz@gmail.com with the subject "Postcards From Hell" and we'll see what we can do! Whether you want to help report the latest happenings, write articles voicing your opinions on Zebrahead related issues, or perhaps share your own media in the safe knowledge of receiving full recognition for it, then drop me a line. The more active the contributors, the better!